Ranieri: “Three points that help us bounce back from Spezia defeat”

Claudio Ranieri was a satisfied man on Saturday night after goals from Antonio Candreva and new signing Ernesto Torregrossa helped Sampdoria to fight back from a goal down to beat Udinese 2-1 at Marassi.

“These three points help us bounce back from the Spezia defeat,” said Ranieri after the game. “Udinese did what they do best in the first half, making the most of their speed and quality. We looked well-organised, but we were too rigid. We were playing a 4-2-3-1 formation in theory, but [Fabio] Quagliarella was too isolated. I could see that they were being allowed to play too much and that we weren’t managing to touch them. That’s why I sent on a creative player behind two fresh forwards. I moved [Adrien] Silva straight away, then sent on [Gaston] Ramirez.”

Ranieri was delighted for Torregrossa, who enjoyed a dream debut off the bench.

“Signing Torregrossa means we’re able to mix things up,” he said. “We have him, [Keita] Balde, Quagliarella and also [Manolo] Gabbiadini when he’s fit again. We have lots of forwards, all of which are of a good standard, but the most important thing is balance. I switched from a back four to a back three today with Candreva and [Tommaso] Augello out wide, and we were able to find the space in their half of the field. It looked like Torregrossa has been playing with us for years – he linked up well with everyone going forward.”

The Doria coach also dismissed concerns over Quagliarella’s reaction to being substituted.

“I didn’t see, but it would be expected,” he said. “It’s not great coming off when you’re losing. I have faith in him –  he’s our captain, a great player, our top scorer. I’m pleased to move onto 23 points and there are now three more to play for before we reach the halfway stage.”